What a service, really nice. Thank you very much!

That was trying to run the test with everything flat. Rung out with a GEQ I got 7dB more out of the 550 than I can from the 935 (also rung out.)

I've ordered two more 550s.

Just had the chance to listen to some of the board and broadcast (radio & TV) mixes that were made during this tour and in every case the voices cut through the mix nicely, the vocals were not loud, they just cut through that is in their way effortlessly.

The only concern I had was in three or four spots in one particular where the lead vocalist suddenly screamed loudly into the mic and I heard some distortion momentarily...not overly present but I heard it. I don't know if this was the mic or the preamp but I don't remember hearing this or seeing any red lights during the show...but then again the show was just so damn loud it would have to be flagrant for anybody to hear it. I'm still impressed and still very much interested to check out this mic some more which I will do ASAP.

I'd be interested to hear from anybody else who has had the chance to check out this or any of their other vocal mics recently.

2 MTP 940 (condenser) with switchable patterns and really LOVE them. Getting used for everything, really, because of their wide/card/hypercard pattern. Great as Drum-OH, great to pick up a choir, very good for lead vocals of course (but not in the scenario you described, obviously). Prefer them over the Neumann KMS series and very much above Beta87. They even sound good on a piano.
They have become my "always with me if anything happens" -mics, and while I had no situation that was problematic with feedback and stage volume yet, I feel confident to use them anytime fo singers and instruments. Handling-noise is a bit higher than Beta87, I would say on par with Neumann KMS. Nothing an experienced singer is not used to take care of.
Did not try them in a base-drum yet. Perhaps I should


Pair of LCT340 small diaphragm condensers with changeable capsules. While I dig the sound (pre-EQed to be honest, but in a nice way with a peak around 6-7kHz), the capsule is mounted with a simple screw thread with not too many windings. They are good in recording environment and with thoughtful usage, but I am not shure if I would tour with them. Capsules could fall off. (You could tape them of course, but I would feel better with a bayonet mount like a CK391 has). The clamps however are very sturdy and thoughtful/clever made.

The Kick-mic MTP340REX is a little too pre-EQed for my taste. Sold it. Did not have a chance to try the 2-capsule-thingy they offer. Also have some of the LDC mics, and would think they could take a lot of abuse easily, but I don't have experience with them in a live scenario.

If you add the experiences of S21 and Sam the 550 has a feedback advantage of 7db plus an easy cutting through character - this I understand that you need less volume for a clear vocal sound.
As soon as I find the time I have to pick up one and try it on a small stage in a less that optimal room. Could be really usefull there.

My reality is that if you don't have sufficient GBF it doesn't matter what the mic sounds like.

It isn't a silver bullet though. I put the 550 on someone the other night and thought "ummm... no."

Something else sounded better on that person.

I don't know of a silver bullet mic that sounded best on everything...

I guess a mic that sounds good on everyone would have to use some future alien technology with an adaptive mode.

Any mic will sound true to whatever source you aim it at, the only problem is that this might not be the sound the musician and/or the mixer is looking for at that particular time or in that particular situation.

I have to disagree. Some microphones work with some voices, but never with all of them. And of course, i consider "working" as a something that gives pleasing results.

A good, accurate microphone should only reproduce the source as accurately as possible, nothing more...it's not supposed to make it sound 'good' or 'more pleasing'. Terms like 'pleasing' have no definition or meaning in this context, because what's 'pleasing' to you may not be pleasing to anybody else.

Typically, I find that microphones that try to be 'pleasing' are usually one-trick ponies that are pre-EQued to present a specific tonality or sound regardless of the sound of the source...some popular drum microphones falls into that category. I prefer to measure the 'goodness' of a microphone by its fidelity and accuracy instead.

The term pleasing tells me: if a source is really bright and earpiercing, a darker sounding microphone will give me more pleasing result. If a source is rather dark and dull, that same microphone make it even duller, so I might use a microphone with a presence boost, which is actually very common along condensers.

And no I don't think its the same as EQ, but you might be able to get similar results with EQ. I want the sound to be very close to where I want it to be when it hits my converters. If neutral is king, did you try recording with measurement microphones? I think this is a neutral as it can get.

Thinking about it, I have to try my trusted Beyerdynamic MM1, maybe it does sound good.. So far I only recorded sweeps and noise with it

Some of us would rather start with a source that's as close to the target sound as possible and then use an accurate microphone, positioned correctly and then if necessary, twist some knobs to make it sound the way I want it to sound.

I'm pretty sure I can almost always get better results quicker than using a 'trick' mic. The one thing I'm sure of is that I can always get the result I want with an accurate mic...the fact is that the source determines and dictates where you can go with the sound. Just putting a darker mic on a bright source might not make it sound more pleasing because of all the variables involved.

I have and do recorded with measurement microphones...in the right acoustic environment the result can be fantastic, you should try it.

I just received delivery of the Lewitt DTP Beat Kit Pro 7 and is expecting to receive the MTP 550 DM live vocal mic in a day or two...can't wait to set these up on a kit and hear how they sound. The dual kick-drum microphone is the single biggest reason I decided to check out this kit, but I'm also hoping the tom mics will at least be as good as the Senn 604/904.

Well, i did not say I do not want to start with a great source, but my reality is I often don't have a choice. I have to record what the musicians bring with them. Over the years i definitely will accumulate a broad array of drums, cymbals, amps and so on. but as a semi-pro I have enough weak points I want to invest in.

From my experience the Lewitts do not really colour the sound apart from some added highs. So the tonality does not change as the mids are mostly flat. I definitely would not describe them as "trick"mics.

All I'm saying is that when I put a microphone in front of a source for reenforcement or recording all I need/want is that the reproduction is as close to the source as possible, I want accuracy. I do not want the mic (or any other part of the chain) to arbitrarily change the color of the sound for me.

I can twist knobs and/of change the position of the mic to bend things a little, but Im starting from as close to the zero point as possible.

I think you've misunderstood...just to be very clear, I do NOT think, nor have I suggested that the Lewitt is a "trick" mic or a one trick pony. I think it sounds true to the source and in fact this is one of the reasons I like it so much.

Well, it indeed looks like I misunderstood you. Sorry for that !

( a person saying sorry on the internet, I guess it might start raining frogs soon)

It (saying sorry) has happened more than a few times in the past.

I used the Lewitt DTP Beat Kit Pro 7 this past Saturday and to say I was pleased with the overall performance of the kit would be an understatement. The clarity and accuracy of the sound is impressive, especially because there is no hype and/or brittleness, the microphones have extremely low self-noise and the sound is always close to the source. The two hour long concert was staged in a well known, 3,000 seat venue in Paris and would be recorded and transmitted live by a music channel so everything had to be as close to perfect as possible for the two hour long concert.

The artist was the promoter and producer of the concert, and as production manager I got to choose the PA and all the other fun bits and coordinate with the broadcast crew. We were mostly setup from the night before and had the venue all day Saturday for final setup and tweaks, this gave me a lot of time to test and try different things with the microphones, my new Zod Audio ID-DI, which is a killer piece of gear by the way, but is so big and heavy it is probably not very practical for most touring/gigging. The planning and coordination of technical aspects of the production was very interesting on many levels and I may start a new thread about that so won’t get too deep into it here…this is about the performance of the Lewitt microphones and my impressions of them.

With the cooperation of the band and crew I was able to mix and match and try different things just to get a sense of how well the microphones in the kit performed in general and how they stack up against some of my favorite microphones. I immediately liked the sound and performance of the kit on our initial setup and sound-check, clear, natural sound that required little or no EQ or other processing, fortunately I was working with a master drummer who knows how to tune who was on a badass, stage custom Yamaha kit.

The performance and sound of the DTP 640 REX dual element kick drum mic and the DTP 340 TT tom mics that impressed the most, even the broadcast and recording sound crews were impressed. In fact during testing there was almost nothing I didn’t like the tom mic on…it sounded good on congas, snare top and bottom and even guitar and bass cab. Because of its technical attributes and versatility, calling it a tom mic is a disservice I think, The supercardioid polar pattern provides high gain before feedback, it is clear and accurate which seem to be the hallmarks of all the Lewitt microphones I’ve heard so far…always clean, clear and feedback resistant. The only thing I didn’t test this mic on was vocals because I doubt anyone would use it for vocals on stage. I do however consider it a modern, quieter, clear version of some classic dynamic microphones like the M88 and the MD421.

The DTP 640 REX dual-element kick drum mic is unique in design and how it can be applied, add the Lewitt signature clean and accurate sound and you have a solid contender for best kick drum mic on the market today in my opinion. The two aligned microphones and the controls that allow the user to contour the performance of both microphones allow a lot of versatility and eliminate a lot of EQ and other processing. It worked really well on floor-tom and bass and guitar cab, and I’m pretty sure it will work well on trombone and upright bass too. It is my new go to bass cab and bass drum mic.

The LCT 340 pencil condenser microphones is airy and crystal clear…again, very smooth and without hype. Acoustic guitar, percussions, hi-hat, choir etc., even in high SPL situations it’s a well behaved pickup pattern and frequency response. All these microphones have the right qualities that make them suitable for critical studio and remote recording use…the low self-noise, clarity, accuracy, versatility and high gain before feedback make this best drum kit I’ve used recently, and the kick-drum mic should be the new standard.

Unfortunately, I haven’t received the MTP 550 DM vocal microphone as yet because of a screw up with the delivery, but I’m keeping my fingers crossed that it will arrive in the next few days.

My iPhone camera went on the fritz so I don't have a lot of pictures to show.

I received an MTP 550 DM and an MTP 940 CM...can’t wait to get a singer behind them.

Look forward to hearing your thoughts

I'm already a fan of the drum kit mics...the dual element kick mic is my go to kick and bass cab mic from now on...I already like the MTP550, and want to see how it and the MTP940 which is a condenser with a lot of technical features stack up against some other well known live vocal microphones, especially my MBHO 219.

My first MBHO 219 SC arrives next week, looking forward to comparing with KMS 105s and 104s.

Your experience with the Lewitt’s so far has my attention, it will be great to get your assessment/comparison of your new mics to the 219.

I think you will like the MBHO...never met anyone who was disappointed by, or dissatisfied with its performance. Based on what I've heard so far the Lewitt 550 is the king of the budget handheld vocal and all rounder mic segment...voice, snare, percussion, guitar cab, horns.

The MTP550 mic outperforms the budget "standards" by a mile and a half, I've never used the MTP 940, but I'm hoping it will be at least in the same ballpark as the MBHO 219 C/SC, because with the possibility to change the polar pattern, select a HP filter and attenuate will certainly make it a very versatile microphone.

Have y'all seen/heard the youtube video of Gloria Gainer @ NAMM 2017, singing "I Will Survive" through a MTP 550 DM ???
Check it out... YouTube

Her voice sounds good...if you can dig your way through the thick reverb, but notice how it didn't pickup the saxophone behind her.

I really liked her mic technique... how she pointed the mic to pick up her nasal contribution as well her voice.
You are right about the reverb, of course.

I think the 550 is quite a tight cardioid. You certainly need to be "on" the mic more than other cardioids I have.

Does anybody here have any experience with the MTP840? The side-rejection shown in the polars looks particularly impressive, and I'd guess the broad presence peak takes EQ well . . .